BRT II from September

The trial run on Bus Rapid Transit’s (BRT) Pilot B, from Moolchand Hospital to Delhi Gate, will start from September 1. Buses will ply on the extreme left lane on this stretch and traffic police will ensure that both buses and other motor vehicles stick to their lanes.

The trial run on Bus Rapid Transit’s (BRT) Pilot B, from Moolchand Hospital to Delhi Gate, will start from September 1.

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Buses will ply on the extreme left lane on this stretch and traffic police will ensure that both buses and other motor vehicles stick to their lanes.

Senior Delhi government officials said the trial run would be on for six months.

It will then be reviewed and decided whether to have the bus lane on left of the corridor or on the right side of the corridor.

The decision was taken at a joint meeting of Delhi government’s transport department, Delhi traffic police, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), RITES and other agencies concerned.

To help traffic police enforcing lane discipline, DIMTS, the agency operating the BRT corridor, will provide marshals to the traffic police.

Officials said the traffic police do not have the kind of manpower required to enforce lane driving on the 8.7-km stretch from Moolchand to Delhi Gate.

“Our civil work will be complete by August 15 and signalling work is also expected to be over around the same time. The corridor will be ready for operation by end of August. We are planning to start trial runs in the first week of September,” Delhi transport commissioner R.K. Verma said.

“Traffic marshals will be under direct control and supervision of the traffic police so that they have shadow powers,” Verma said.

Pilot A of BRT, from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand, has a segregated bus lane on the right along the central verge. However, unlike Pilot A, where the bus lane has been segregated by physical divider, Pilot B will only have a yellow painted line demarcating the bus lane, thus making lane enforcement difficult.

“We will comply with the decision taken at the meeting,” Delhi traffic police chief S.N. Shrivastava said.

Work to replace traffic signals at 12 intersections along the stretch is already on.

Apart from signals for motorised traffic and pedestrians, there will be separate signal lights for the cyclists. A separate lane for cyclists has been demarcated between the bus lane and footpath.

Pilot A of the BRT corridor, a 5.8-km stretch from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand, was opened to the public on April 20, 2008.

After a public hue and cry, the Delhi government announced shifting of the bus lane from the right of the corridor to the left of the corridor and replaced the physical divider with a yellow painted line to demarcate the bus lane.